Konoha's Night Market

"Oh, then how about becoming a teacher at the Ninja Academy? Don't worry, you'd be a physical education teacher. Only one class a day! And the class often gets taken over by other teachers. Your salary would be the same as any other teacher's."

The Third Hokage did not ask why. Instead, he arranged an extremely leisurely teaching position for Masayo. Physical education was much like the PE classes in Masayo's previous life—other teachers loved taking them over!

"That would be perfect!"

Masayo nodded with a smile. It suited him perfectly. He had originally wanted to take a year off to rest anyway. As for having his classes taken over, he did not care. Even if he had to teach, he would just let everyone have free time. There was not much to teach in PE; he only needed to assess the students' physical fitness. It would be easy enough to send a Shadow Clone in his place.

Masayo left the Hokage's Office. Ebisu and Kurenai Yuhi had been waiting outside the door, and the moment Masayo emerged, Ebisu hurriedly asked nervously, "How did it go? What did Lord Hokage say?"

Masayo only smiled and made an OK gesture, nearly making Ebisu shout in excitement!

"Great, great! Masayo, Jonin Kurenai, I'm treating you tonight! Don't hold back on my account. The three of us need to celebrate properly!"

Masayo smiled and nodded. "Sure. Where and when?"

Ebisu said, "Maple Leaf Restaurant on Konoha Central Street, tomorrow night at eight. See you there."

Kurenai pouted slightly. "I wanted to treat you."

Masayo replied with a smile, "We'll save Red Sis's treat for next time. There'll be plenty of chances. See you, Red Sis. See you, Senior Ebisu. Tomorrow night at eight."

"Bye-bye!"

After Masayo, Kurenai, and Ebisu left the Hokage Building, they said their goodbyes and each returned home.

Back at home, Masayo lay wearily on his bed and sorted through what the character in his mind had given him.

"Yin–Yang Release, which constructs the positive and negative aspects of the world! The Life Spirit that comprehends nature!"

Fishbeam Forest had once been where the God Tree took root and grew. The chakra left behind by the God Tree had transformed into Fishbeam Trees. Masayo had seen all of this through Fishbeam Forest with the Wind Sense Technique, along with the complete training method, just like the Rasengan.

"Within a year, I don't need to master Yin–Yang Release, but I have to at least grasp the basics!"

Masayo made a resolution for himself. Starting from scratch was always the hardest. He could not expose this Yin–Yang Release, nor could he ask anyone for guidance. As for Kurenai and Ebisu, he could not tell them either. The three of them were now tied together by the same thread. If something happened to him, Kurenai and Ebisu would not be able to escape unscathed.

"I'm so tired. This trip was the most exhausting one yet. I'll sleep first!"

Masayo slowly closed his eyes and drifted into sleep. In his dream, he seemed to return to Fishbeam Village. The otherworldly monster named Chi roared as pitch-black darkness engulfed him.

Masayo struggled desperately. Chakra suddenly erupted from his body, blasting apart the black, viscous darkness trapping him!

"Waaah..."

Masayo jolted awake from his dream. It was already ten at night. When he had returned, it had only been a little past nine in the morning. He had slept for that long.

The moon outside seemed to have a piece missing. Masayo leaned against the window, opened it, and enjoyed the cool night breeze.

"Even my biological clock is messed up. No wonder ninjas need time to rest after returning from missions. It's jet lag."

Masayo felt uncomfortable all over. He could not sleep, and his head hurt. The nightmare he had just had left him especially alert!

"Forget it. I don't think I've ever visited Konoha's night market. I'll go take a look tonight. Besides, with all this pocket money, it'd be no fun not to spend any!"

Masayo had gone straight to sleep without even taking off his ninja clothes. After taking a bath, he changed into casual sportswear, locked the door, and headed for Konoha Central Street.

Konoha's bustling night market looked even livelier than it did during the day. All sorts of shops and stall vendors hawked their wares. He had once relied on carving things to sell for money, so he had never properly wandered through the night market.

"Not bad, but it's still not as lively as summer festivals and the like!"

Masayo smiled as he sighed. His wallet was fuller now, and he had money, but by nature he preferred peace and kept to himself, so he would not show it.

"Hmm!"

Suddenly, Masayo frowned. He saw a woman wearing sunglasses and a long gray coat, wrapped up tightly from head to toe, with a hat on her head. Her black hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

"What a strong smell of alcohol!"

Masayo instinctively moved away from the woman in the gray coat, covering his nose with a look of disgust. The reek of alcohol was far too strong!

Just as they were about to pass each other, the woman in the gray coat toppled straight toward him!

Whoosh!

Masayo vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. Just as the woman was about to smash face-first into the ground, he grabbed the back of her collar and said coldly, "Hey, that's enough, you drunken lunatic. Are you trying to scam me? Let me tell you, I believe in gender equality. Don't think I won't hit you just because you're a woman."

Bleurgh...

The sound of vomiting drew the entire street's attention toward him. Masayo nearly went numb, especially when he saw the sanitation workers cleaning the street looking at him as if they wanted to kill him.

"I'm sorry, but this has absolutely nothing to do with me! I don't even know this drunken lunatic!"

Suddenly, a necklace hanging beneath the female drunkard's collar caught Masayo's attention. It was a hexagonal pendant, and it made him remember who the drunkard in his hand was!

"No way!"

Masayo froze for a moment, unable to believe that the drunken lunatic in his hand was actually...

After vomiting, the woman in the gray coat had sobered up quite a bit. While Masayo was distracted, she quickly turned around, brushed back her hair, and sprayed a mist at him from the orange earrings on her ears.

"Waaah!"

Masayo covered his eyes. The burning pain made him cry out in agony!

"My eyes, my eyes! You crazy woman, what are you doing?"

The woman stood up. Her steps were still somewhat unsteady, but she was far better than before. In a cool voice, she said, "It's earring spray for warding off wolves!"

After saying that, the woman hurried away at a jog, leaving Masayo standing there in a frenzy.

"My eyes! Damn it, who did I provoke? Damn crazy woman, just you wait! I know who you are now. If I run into you again, I definitely won't let you off so easily!"

Masayo used the Wind Sense Technique to track the woman, but the crowd was too dense. By the time he sensed her trail, she would probably have long since escaped.

Masayo vanished with the Body Flicker Technique, leaping several times before hiding in a large tree. He felt utterly humiliated. The nearby pedestrians were probably laughing themselves to death, and he had even been ambushed. What a disgraceful blunder.

From then on, Masayo understood that no matter who he faced, he could never let his guard down. Otherwise, something like today would happen again.

"Such bad luck. Why did I even come to the night market? I ran into that damned crazy woman too. I'm furious!"

Masayo's vision slowly recovered, but his eyes still felt hot and painful, with a prickling sensation like needles stabbing into them.